This was everything I could’ve possibly wanted in a cozy fantasy. I was giggling and kicking my feet through all of it. The characters were amazing, the banter was great. I loved it so much and highly recommend to anybody needing a smile.

an absolutely delightful journey featuring bureaucratic nonsense, money-grubbing relatives, a slow-burn romance between a literal murder-sword-man and a woman with an unmatched ability to roll with weird situations, and just enough humor to make me snort-laugh in public. The dialogue is sharp, the world is immersive without feeling bogged down in lore, and the romance? Chef’s kiss.

This was a bit of a swerve from my recent reading tastes but took me back to the days when I only read fantasy. If you are looking for a cozy fantasy, this is it. The stakes are fairly low and its banter was charming. It really fit my two favourite genres, romcom and fantasy, together to make for something quite fun. We need more romcom/fantasy books out there! My one complaint- it was a little longer than necessary for the story being told.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble reviews submitted, pending systems' approval
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**TL;DR**: Another fun and romantic fantasy from T. Kingfisher
**Source**: NetGalley, thank you Bramble!

**Plot**: Halla, while attempting to end her life, ends up with a magical guardian from within a sword. Hijinks follow.
**Characters**: As always T. Kingfisher’s characters are easy to love. They’re fun and friendly and it’s hard to go wrong.
**Setting**: The setting was a little loose, and we spent most of our time traveling so it wasn’t the strongest for me.
**Romance/Fantasy:** I love the romance in these books as I’m a goofy person and this always feels a little goofy. The fantasy was great as well, especially if you’re familiar with her other fantasy novels. ****

**Thoughts**:

T. Kingfisher’s Swordheart has been trending a lot lately, and this beautiful trad printing of it does it a service. The story follows practical Halla. Trapped in her own home after inheriting a large sum of money, she decides the best path forward is to end her life so the money she has gained goes to some distant family. So she pulls an old antique sword off the wall and when she does so a man appears, magically bound to the sword and it’s wielder (now her). From there they set out on an adventure.

This is a journey book, we leave Halla’s home and go to two towns then come back. The characters spend a lot of time on the road and interacting and that is where I think Kingfisher shines. Her dialogue is snappy and funny and her characters’ interactions feel like conversations and reactions I have with my friends. You laugh, you gasp, and you just have a lot of fun. There are also little nods throughout to other books in the Kingfisher world, which is delightful for a returning reader.

My only complaint is that the book felt it’s length. It’s just shy of 450 pages and it did feel a bit long at times. Is that enough for me to say skip it? No, not at all. But there is a bit of bloat. I enjoyed this. I want more here (a sequel has been announced) and I can’t wait. There is a bird shouting doom filled prophecies! How can you not want more? For fans of romantic fantasy, cozy, or humorous fantasy this would be a great pickup.

Laughed out loud—Frequently! Not bad for the 2nd time around!

I had so much trouble controlling my laughter especially as it was 3am in the morning and my partner was sound asleep. 😂🤣😂
Halla had to her complete surprise inherited her great uncle Silas’ estate. Silas’ sister Malva is not happy. So much so that Malva has imprisoned Halla in her attic bedroom until she consents to marry Malva’s son, Cousin Alver, he of the clammy hands. Looking around for a way to escape and finding none, she resorts to trying to stab herself using an old sword. She draws the sword a few inches when with a flash of electric blue light, out pops the sword’s resident guardian who will protect whomever draws the sword. He’s shocked because Halla’s scantily clothes, and Halla because, well, could this day get any worse? Halla becomes garrulous. She asks questions when she faces danger. Most people ignore her and think she’s empty headed. However it seems Sarkis is now sworn to defend her, garrulous or not.
Which leads to them fleeing Rutger’s Howe and heading for Archen’s Glory the capital of Archenhold to find the temple of the White Rats.
The White Rat priests become involved—always fun!
A wonderful tale of missteps, misadventure, and misdirected set in the very dynamic world of Archenhold.
(The Deluxe hard cover edition.)

A Tor ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This book was not my favorite! I felt they could have done more with the characters what drew me in was the story description but honestly after way through the book I lost interest and it was a struggle to finish. I usually like cozy but this didn’t hit for me unfortunately:) what I did like was the cover and this story had alot of potential!

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

The banter was the best! This is a cozy read that I enjoyed. I feel like it could have been a bit shorter but other than that it was a fun time.

This will be the book I suggest for a palate cleanser for the rest of time.

The banter in the book made me laugh out loud over and over again. I loved all of our main characters. Many times books are compared to "The Princess Bride" but, baby, this one hits.

Following Halla as she accidentally becomes acquainted with Sarkis..the sword (Yes, our MMC is essentially a sword. )
He helps her escape from her delusional and money-hungry in-laws on a journey that consists of mostly Halla asking questions and strategically playing a fool. I loved every moment of this book. I will be buying the audiobook because I KNOW the banter will be made so much better.

Kingfisher is usually hit or miss for me, this time it was just fine. This felt too long for what it was. I think I'm just a little shocked because this doesn't feel like Kingfisher to me. I liked the idea and I liked how the main characters were a bit older.

This book originally released in 2018, but now with a stunning new hardcover and teal edges! This was a great cozy fantasy. It was unassuming and the witty banter was top notch.

I liked the author's portrayal of both the FMC (Halla) and MMC (Sarkis) in that they both didn't take each other too seriously. The love felt real between the two characters. There adventure together was also really fun in that it wasn't too serious, and seemed low stakes.

I found this book thoroughly charming, although I think you would have to be in a very specific mood to enjoy it. The characters are delightful, but the plot does meander quite a bit, and there are definitely points where it feels repetitive. I would say that this feels like a cozy fantasy, except for all the corpses. The corpses do pile up and make it a bit hard to call it fully cozy. The relationship between Halla and Sarkis absolutely has that feeling, though. I appreciated that they're both middle-aged (I mean, apart from the bit where Sarkis is a 500 year old sword). Halla's babbling is incredibly relatable. The book is quite funny (again, corpses not withstanding) and makes for an enjoyable read if you've got the patience to wander along with it.

you want a romantasy without assassin teenagers or evil ones to overthrow? Would you prefer older main characters and constant humor? Kingfisher has got a story for you!

This may be the best romantasy I have read to date- developed characters, hilarious inner monologues, an easy meandering plot- that somehow still felt high stakes even though they were just dealing with matters of a will. Halla and Sarkis are so cute it makes me want to scream.

I found the world building so easy to understand (no info dumps!) and I want to venture into the Paladin’s series now as well. Kingfisher’s characters and stories have always been a win for me but I really enjoyed the lack of horror for once- glad that I have already purchased the new edition of this rerelease!

📖 Book Review: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
⭐️ 4.25 Stars | 📚 Book 39/100 | 🎧. Audiobook/eBook

Thank you to T. Kingfisher and Tor Publishing Group for the review copy of this title.

Swordheart is a delightful mix of humor, adventure, and romance with T. Kingfisher’s signature wit and charm. This book took me on an unexpected journey filled with sarcastic banter, quirky characters, and a magical sword with an attitude. If you love fantasy with a strong dose of humor, you’ll enjoy this one!

Tropes:
Grumpy/Sunshine
Guardian/Protector Romance
Found Family
Sentient Weapon
Road Trip Adventure

Trigger Warnings:
Violence
Captivity/Imprisonment
Discussions of Death & Suicide

What I Loved:
Halla is such a relatable, no-nonsense FMC who refuses to let fate push her around.
Sarkis, the grumpy-yet-loyal warrior trapped in the sword, has some of the best dry humor I’ve read.
The worldbuilding and unique magic system are refreshing without being overwhelming.
The romance is slow-burn, full of tension, and absolutely worth it!

What Didn’t Work for Me:
The pacing lagged a bit in the middle, with some sections feeling slower than necessary.
Some side characters weren’t as developed as I’d hoped.

Overall, Swordheart is a fun, engaging read that blends fantasy and romance effortlessly. If you enjoy T. Kingfisher’s mix of humor and heart, this is a must-read!

Over the last few years, I’ve read more than a couple of Kingfisher novels, and have loved each one of them. Many of her books are standalone, while others are part of series that I haven’t delved into. I didn’t realize that this was part of a series until I was already into the book, but I haven’t found a Kingfisher book that I haven’t loved yet, and had my standards set very high for this story.

I know this review is being posted on the day after the book was published, but this one took me a surprisingly long time to make my way through. This was one of the rare cases that I didn’t mind it taking me so much longer to get through, because I truly loved the story. My effort to have this book read and reviewed before the publication date didn’t work out very well, as you can see. There really was very little that I didn’t like about the book, but I had a really weird issue with reading it—I’d put the book down and then have to push myself to pick it back up, even though I loved reading it and quickly became captivated by the story each time. Once publication day had passed, I tried switching to the audiobook version I got from the library, and discovered that I preferred this book in audiobook format.

The audiobook is narrated by Jesse Vilinsky, and I loved her portrayal of each of the characters (that I listened to in the second half of the book). Despite the story taking place in an entirely different fantasy world, for some reason she gave Sarkis a strong Scottish brogue, and I adored listening to every minute of the story. Vilinsky made it so easy to differentiate between the characters, voicing different timbres, accent, and range of characters along the spectrum of gender identity and the equivalent sound of the voices of male, female, and non-binary characters.

Speaking of which, I’m really glad that they had a range of gender identity between the major characters who form a found family. Halla is a widow, and was married to a man who was significantly older and it wasn’t a romantic marriage, instead seeming to be one of convenience. Sarkis is, well, he’s an immortal warrior who is cursed to be trapped in a sword and be at the mercy of the wielder. There is another character who features prominently in the story who is non-binary, and in Kingfisher’s signature style, non-binary characters are just a normal part of the world. However, the character does mention in an oblique way that they received similar questions as non-binary or trans people get in our world. Personally, I wish our society was more accepting of others in the LGBTQIA+ community the way this world was.

It is hard not to love Halla, perhaps impossible. She is one of those people that is amazing to have as a friend or family member, being willing to practically give the proverbial shirt off her back to anyone in need. And people with good hearts always assume the best in others, so it becomes clear very early on that she has been taken advantage of by the people around her, especially as soon as they learned about the inheritance her husband had left to her alone. Her in-laws are furious and lock her in her bedroom, and she happens to discover the sword with Sarkis, which kicks off the most adventurous adventure Halla has ever been on.

Halla is the most charming combination of brilliant and naïveté. She’s a widow but has absolutely no idea about intimacy, and having only lived on a farm and in her husband’s house, she’s extra gullible. But she’s also very smart in some ways, and I would have thought this combination of clueless and brilliant wasn’t realistic except for the fact that I have a best friend who is exactly like this. And Halla is really funny. She’s the kind of stiff upper-lip woman full of plucky courage and heartwarming charm. It takes a bit to get to know Sarkis and Zale, but once their personalities come out and I had no choice but to love them as well. The three of them team up with a gnole (creatures that speak) who drives the ox that pulls the cart everyone is riding in.

While Halla has very little family, and the only people surrounding her in the house are her in-laws that are determined to keep the house ‘in the family,’ and they treat her deplorably. However, Sarkis helps her escape the house that her in-laws have locked her into until she agrees to marry a cousin-in-law, which she has no desire to do. They enlist the help of a priest from the House of the White Rat, and are then accompanied by Zale, the priest, to navigate the complexities of estate law and find out what is really going on.

The four of them and a slow-moving ox take to the road in an attempt to pull any records kept on the estate. While there is a lot of character interaction and development in the story, the center part of the story was differently paced from the start and finish, although there are some scattered bits of action along the journey, especially once someone they encounter knows about the sword. However, while they are in constant danger from priests of another god, brigands on the road, and dangerous creatures.

Sarkis grew on me pretty quickly. He’s fierce and severe, but he’s actually a cinnamon roll with an extra tough outer shell. The interactions between Halla, Sarkis, and Zale were written in a way that had me laughing, empathizing with the characters, and sitting on the edge of my seat for the parts with action. Once I switched to the audiobook, it was a lot more enjoyable to read this story, and didn’t struggle to pick up a book I enjoyed so thoroughly.

Overall, this is exactly what I’d expect from T. Kingfisher, who constantly writes her own form of multi genre books—cozy horror, and now a cozy romantasy. The stakes aren’t very high in this story, but the characters are really what made this book shine—they each charmed me and won my heart over. The only thing that stopped me from rating this a full 5 stars is that the story got a bit meandering in the middle, with a really slow pace. However, it did allow readers to watch the believable romance build between Sarkis and Halla, as well as the many humorous exchanges between our major characters as they develop a found family bond. But I loved the story, the characters, and even the beautifully rendered world building. All in all, Kingfisher is an author I know I can’t go wrong with reading, and I’m going to have to keep slowly working my way through her backlist.

Halla inherits her uncle's estate, unfortunately her greedy relatives want it all for themselves. Her family decides to force her into a marriage so they can access the estate. Locked in her room, Halla draws a sword to end her life, only to release Sarkis, an immortal warrior sworn to protect her. Halla and Sarkis escape her uncle's estate and set off on an adventure to claim her inheritance and avoid the arranged marriage.

This was a cozy, feel good, romantasy book I didn't know I needed. I loved the banter between the characters, esp. the inner dialogue of Halla and Sarkis. It was laugh out loud funny.

Thank you NetGalley and Bramble for this ARC Copy!

I am forever and always a fan of T Kingfisher and I will read anything and everything they write. I was so excited to start this book and to be honest, I had a really hard time staying interested in the beginning of the story. I wish I had read this on audio, I think that would have made it smoother for me. I will say, though there was a pretty slow start and it took me a while to really connect with the characters, I knew that I had to persist because I could not give up that easily. I am so glad that I didn't give up. I just took a few days off and picked it right back up and had a much easier go of it. The characters were so cute, the MMC is so grumpy, and the FMC is literally a ray of sunshine with most likely ADHD and a veracious appetite for knowledge. Literally any knowledge too, just never shuts up ;) which makes for such a cute dynamic.

T. Kingfisher adds another cozy fantasy romance to her world of the White Rat, and I couldn't be happier! As someone who has only read a couple of the books set in this universe, I am delighted that I can pick up a standalone novel like Swordheart and enjoy it without needing to read everything else first.

Kingfisher is remarkably talented at writing older characters simply existing and trying to find small happinesses in their normal lives, even if world-altering events are happening elsewhere. Halla is a widow who finds herself embroiled in dangerous, small-town family drama that she doesn't care to entertain. Sarkis may be bound to a magical sword, but he's also a middle-aged mercenary who's got baggage on baggage. Their personalities endear them to the reader immediately, so much so that even though this story was 80% road trip I wasn't bored for a single moment. The supporting cast of Zale, Brindle, and the iconic Prettyfoot round out the group for banter and some skills our main duo can't cover all by themselves. Zale in particular was so exciting to see in the spotlight after several mentions and cameos in other works.

The possibility of "sequels" is there, albeit from the perspective of characters only mentioned in Swordheart, but I want them!! I want those stories! For anyone who enjoys Kingfisher's Saint of Steel books or other cozy, small scale fantasy adventures, you will like this book

Everything a cozy fantasy should be. Great low-stakes plot, well structured characters, captivating writing style. T Kingfisher is a master in this genre. I never expected to fall in love for a sword, but here we are!

Every time I review a T. Kingfisher book, I find myself wanting to say: if you like her work, you'll like this work. That is not a particularly helpful if you *don't* know her work, but Kingfisher is in that exclusive club of authors whose voice is unique and immediately identifiable.

So, Swordheart takes place in the same D&D-ish world as many of her other books and is roughly equal parts snarky humor and sincere, emotional love story. Highly recommend.